Last day of March...

Here's a sampling of what is growing in the garden on the last day of March..

First and foremost are the baby seedlings that have sprouted in spite of some torrential rains we have seen here in the Mid-Atlantic region. The next few days are forecast to be sunny skies with temps in the high 70's, so these seedlings should really start taking off...




Next are the crops that Wintered over, thanks in large part to the heavy cover of snow we had for most of the cold season. Much of what I seeded in the Fall died off due to an early hard frost in late November, but the plants that survived did quite nicely under the deep insulating blanket of snow that lasted from early January through early March. When the last of the snow finally melted it was a pleasure to find Spring greens already growing vigorously.

Arugula...



Mache (Corn Salad)...



Turnips...



And finally, I always buy a flat or two of cold crop seedlings from my local garden supply so I can get a head start on fresh greens while waiting for my own seedlings to mature.

Chinese Cabbage...




Collard Greens...



Mustard Greens...

Southern Community Gardening

Last weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina to document a friend of mine who cooks for her church. I am doing a story on New Southern Church Cooking. While I was there I drove about 50 miles west of Raleigh to the small rural town of Cedar Grove to visit the Anathoth Community Garden. This is a gorgeous and idyllic little community garden project run by members of the Cedar Grove United Methodist Church. They had a nice greenhouse filled with Strawberries, Chard, Beans, and other crops. Most of their outdoor beds seemed to be dug in and well under way. There were four laying hens freely walking their enclosed area in search of grubs and insects, and a bee hive in the corner of the field that was already buzzing with active honey bees.







There is a very interesting essay on the Anathoth website that describes their philosophy towards sustainable agriculture as it relates to Christianity. I think this same idea could be embraced by all churches, regardless of denomination. The spiritual connection to gardening and eating is an ancient one that most modern churches have fallen a way from.

A Theology of Eating Anathoth web site